The Emotion Machine: Commonsense Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of the Human Mind

Science News,  Nov 11, 2006  

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THE EMOTION MACHINE: Commonsense Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of the Human Mind MARVIN MINSKY

The human mind is constantly processing information, even when it's unaware of it. Thinking goes beyond deliberation to include emotions, gut instincts, and self-reflection. Minsky, a computer scientist, proposes that thinking can be understood as a series of machinelike processes. Infants react to what's around them as if through the action of a switch. AS people mature, their thinking becomes more critical but is still based on machinelike processes. From this foundation, the author analyzes how the brain deals with information, such as the experience of pain and moods. Using computation diagrams, Minsky ponders how people develop common sense and how they use elements of their environments as resources for learning and adaptation. Finally, he suggests how the brain develops a flexible sense of self. Simon & Schuster, 2006, 387 p., b&w illus., hardcover, $2&.00.

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